Shadows Burn the Brightest
by Lookimemo
Summary: When told the truth about what he really is Tsukune finds that his new reality is much more enjoyable than his original one but how will this new perspective change what he has always thought to be true? With magic in his veins, he will find his way.
1. The Truth

**The Truth**

**A/N: Hello everyone! Well, this is my first serious attempt at fanfiction and I do hope you all will enjoy it!**

**I DO NOT OWN ROSARIO + VAMPIRE OR ANY OTHER STORIES I BASTARDIZE TO MAKE THIS!**

**

* * *

**

"I'm sorry I couldn't pass the entrance exam..." Said one Aono Tsukune as he looked down at his feet shamefully. He had just gotten back the results from the high school entrance exam and... well lets just say that he could have done much better. His father patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It's ok son there's always next year. Now why don't you go upstairs and go to bed, you've had a long day." Tsukune nodded and went to his room. He spent a sleepless night thinking about how badly he had screwed up.

* * *

**Back downstairs...**

Aono Kasumi paced fervently back and forth, mulling over the fact that her son had failed the all important high school entrance exam. _'Oh no oh no oh no! What am I going to? With out going to high school my beloved Tsukune will become a delinquent! He'll become depressed, start doing drugs, join a gang, get arrested and become the bitch of his cell mate Thrucha!(2)' _Was all that was going through her mind at that moment because that is the obvious chain of events that begins when you do not attend high school. "Oh Takeshi(1)! What are we going to do!"

Her husband turned to hold her gently to calm her down. "It will be all right Kasumi-koi. So what if Tsukune didn't pass the exam? I bet he'll still come out to be an outstanding man! An even then he still has another chance to pass next year!" "You and I both know his chances of getting accepted into a high school even if he does pass will be much lower because he missed a year."

Takeshi thought over the situation deeply before coming up with the only solution he thought was feasible. "Well there is one school that would accept him..." he said quietly. "What school would want someone who couldn't..." she stopped mid-sentence as the realization hit her. "NO! We are not sending my precious little boy to that place!" "Look I know we discussed this before an decided he should live a normal human life but we are out of options... and besides its about time he knows the truth about what he is."

"But I don't want him to go! He might get hurt or eaten or even worse!" "How is anything worse than getting eaten?" He said quietly to himself. "Look Tsukune will be just fine at Yokai Academy and in fact, I think he'll thrive there. I mean look at me! I am an excellent example of what is taught there!" With a heavy sigh Kasumi conceded to her husband "Ok... I'll allow him to attend but you must tell him about all of this including what he is tomorrow morning." With a slight nod Takeshi gave a quick peck on the lips and they headed upstairs for a good night's rest.

* * *

**The next morning...**

Tsukune groggily walked downstairs. His skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. the heavy bags under his eyes completed the look. As he walked in the dining room he could see his mother was still cooking breakfast and his father was sipping coffee and reading the newspaper at the table. "Good morning, mother, father." He greeted them. His mother still focused on her cooking returned the greeting not paying it much heed while his father just looked up and stared at him. "What the hell happened to you? You look like you went 10 rounds with an 18 wheeler with no brake." "Yeah, that happens when you learn your going to be a failure for the rest of your life." he said, depression quite evident in his somber tone. "About that... I know there is one school that will accept you without the need of passing the exam." Tsukune's bloodshot eyes opened wide with hope and a hint of disbelief. "Re-really?"

Takeshi chuckled lightly at his son's comical expression. "Yes actually my alma mater is actually a school that doesn't require it. Oh good ol' Yokai Academy..." He drifted off as he reminisced about his times at the school. His expression turned serious as he returned from his musings. "But before I can enroll you there I must tell you a great secret." "What secret dad?"

Takeshi got up from the table leaving behind the now forgotten paper and coffee. "Follow me." Tsukune followed his father out of the dining room and into his fathers study. Takeshi walked up to the bookcase and tilted a series of books so they lay on their spines. When 5 of them were down the bookcase seemed to click then slid out of the way. "Well come on." They went through the newly made entrance and down the stairs that were there. Candles on either side illuminated the way. When they reached the half way point marked by a small landing they heard the bookcase close behind them. "Dad... what is this place?" Tsukune finally asked as the neared the bottom. "This my dear boy, is my laboratory!" As he uttered that last syllable a fire place sparked to life completely lighting up the large room.

The room was filled with jars of unknown ingredients, books in languages illegible to Tsukune and a lot of empty vials, beakers, test tubes an other objects normally found in modern laboratories. Off in a dark corner was a scryers circle used for magic and the such. It smelled of must and mold like no one had cleaned it in a long time. Tsukune marveled at what he was seeing _'How did dad keep this a secret?'_ he wondered.

"Tsukune, the reason I brought you down here is because your mom and I haven't been completely honest with you... You see Yokai Academy is a very special school. for one there are no humans there for if one was found out, well he would be executed. Thats because it is a school that belongs solely to that of monsters."

Tsukune was stunned at what he just heard. Humans being executed? A school for monsters? "If it's a school for monsters... How is it your alma mater?" "I was getting to that... You see, ummm I don't know how to put this so I'll say it plainly. I'm not human and neither are you."

"What!" Yelled in surprise, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the laboratory. "Yeah were not humans, well your mom is so that makes you half human I guess but both of us have warlocks blood running through our veins. We are creatures of magic with the ability to bend light and shadows to our will. We can create fire with just our words and control demons with our presence. That is what we are."

Tsukune was having trouble accepting this... who wouldn't after living 16 years as a human? "Why... why did you not tell me anything about this? Why only now?" "When you were born your mother wanted you to live a normal human life, unaffected by the racism that both the monster world and human worlds have for creatures of magic i.e. witches, warlocks, wizards and the such. I agreed with her knowing how it felt as I was discriminated against for much of my youth so we kept your true identity secret till now. It is time you realize who you are and master the powers you have been given." Tsukune nodded with a new resolve. He just found out that magic, monsters and fairy tales are real and that he was someone who could use magic! It was every kids dream.

"Ok first things, first... you need to make a totem." Tsukune sent him a questioning look. "What's a totem?" "Here I'll show you." Takeshi pulled a small orb from his pocket. It was made of glass and looked like and eyeball. "Why do you have a glass eye?" "It's not a glass eye its my totem watch, _**Augesco!**_" The orb suddenly grew in size to that of about a softball, a little bit bigger than one to be more exact. at the bottom grew a short gnarled handle to make it easier to grip. "A totem is a magical item of one's own design and is necessary in enabling a magic user to control their magic. Without it the user's magic would flux wildly an be uncontrollable and unpredictable. As long as your totem is kept on your person you can use whatever magic you want provided you know the incantation that is coupled with the spell. _**Attenuavi!**_" The orb shrunk back down to its original size and Takeshi placed it back in his pocket. "So how do I make a totem?" Takeshi began looking through one of the trunks that were in his lab and pulled out a what looked to be a branch of a tree. It was a about 3 feet long and still had leaves on it. If Tsukune didn't know any better head think it was fresh cut. "Catch." Takeshi tossed the branch at Tsukune how caught it handily.

"That there is a branch of the Yokai Oak, a tree native to the monster realm and it is what is used to create totems. To make your totem just focus all of your thoughts into the branch and say the incantation to bind it to your will... The magic that is in you will decide the form of the totem itself so just focus on the branch. Say the following as you focus on the branch **_Vinxi Nexus Astrinxi!_**"

Tsukune mimicked his father's words and watched as the branch began to lengthen an straighten out to form a staff. On the bottom there was a wing protruding off to the side and a claw forming the direct bottom. At the top a spiked ring appeared and then a large curved blade. _'My totem is a scythe? Not very conspicuous but damn does it look badass' _"Awesome..." he said to himself. "Good job son that's the first step to controlling your abilities. Now do you remember the two spells I said earlier?" receiving a nod in response he continued. "Those two spells will help you hide your totem as well as help you bring it out in battle should you need it. Now there's one other thing we should cover that's essential to the warlock. Your going to summon your familiar."

"A familiar? What's that?" "A familiar is a spirit beast that is bound to your will and will fight along side you for the length of an eternity. They will forever be your companion and will always look out for you. Here I'll summon mine." Taking a deep breath he brought out his totem once again. "_**Advocare Vocatus!**_" A plume of smoke encompassed the room as the incantation finished. A large roar could be heard and a spectral tiger bounded from out of the smoke "**MASTER!**" The tiger pounced on Takeshi taking him to the ground and began to lick his face. "**Oh what a glorious day! I thought you forgot about me! I was so lonely in the spirit realm master! It's so good to be by your side again!**" He continued to like Takeshi's face as he laughed along. "My my it's good to see you again Gondria(3)! I'm sorry i haven't summoned you in a while, I've been busy raising my son here!"

Gondria stopped his ministrations to look at Tsukune. He then promptly pounced him and began licking his face as well. "**It's good to meet the son of my beloved master!**" Takeshi laughed at his son under the oral assault. "Ok Gondria I think he's had enough, he still has to learn how to summon his familiar!" Gondria got off of Tsukune and walked back to his master's side. "Ok Tsukune the way you get your own familiar is by walking on to those runes over there and then you use the same spell I did to summon Gondria." He said motioning to the scryers circle. "When the incantation is complete your familiar will be summoned into your mindscape, which is an area of your subconscious, there you will battle your familiar then when it is weakened you bind it to your will using the same spell as you used to create your totem. By binding your familiar to you, you intertwine your fate with that of your familiar to ensure that you two will be together forever. Now this fight can be dangerous and if you lose... well you will become a vegetable, so I'm going to teach you the warlocks go to spell, one that all warlocks know and must master as it is both mana efficient, mana being the life essence that drives your magic, and quite powerful. Allow me to demonstrate." Takeshi took aim at one of the walls in the room and announced his attack. "_**Inumbratus Emicatus!**_" Dark energy surrounded his hand and formed into a compact ball. he stretched out his hand and the ball left it with surprising speed. The energy formed a skull that seemed to laugh as it ripped through the air before it collided with the wall causing a smll explosion and leaving a black scorch mark. "That was called a shadow bolt and is one of the most useful spells in the book."

Tsukune looked on in awe of what he just saw. "That was soooo cool." "Ok Tsukune are you ready?" Tsukune nodded and walked into the middle of the runes scythe in hand."_**Advocare Vocatus!**_" he yelled. He as his incantation finished he began to feel a slight tugging sensation and was forcefully pulled into his mind.

* * *

**In the mindscape...**

Tsukune was standing in the middle of a clearing of a forest, surrounding him were giant oak trees, all of them molting seeing as it was Autumn. Red leaves flew all around him carried by the wind. Coming out from the opposite end of the clearing came a small black dragon. It was about the size of a St. Bernard and had a long tail. Its claws were sharpened to a point and its wings flapped in an attempt to intimidate Tsukune. It's crimson eyes stared down him before unleashing its fiery breath on him. He jumped away in time to avoid getting burnt to a crisp and yelled out his attack."_**Inumbratus Emicatus!**_" The shadowy skull flew from his hand straight towards the dragon but instead of dodging the dragon just spun spun on it's heels in time to smack the shadow bolt with its tail sending it right back at Tsukune. He once again rolled out of the way this time to avoid his own attack.

Tsukune wipe the sweat from his brow "This is tougher than I thought... How do I beat him in my mind... Wait, my mind, THAT'S IT!" Tsukune pictured the dragon trapped in a cage and then closed his eyes. When he opened them the dragon was roaring in anger and thrashed against the cages bars. Tsukune ran up to the cage and hit it with his scythe, "**_Vinxi Nexus Astrinxi!_**" The cage began to glow brightly before it burst into a white light. White completely encompassed Tsukune's mindscape. The dragon fazed into existence in front of him. "You have bested me in mortal combat and for that, I Doragon Akihime will forever serve as your familiar and companion Aono Tsukune-sama! Our fates our now bonded to one another. We shall be companions both in life and in death. Prepare yourself for the trails ahead of us will be long an arduous, filled with grief and pain as well as much joy and happiness." Akihime seemed to bow to him before shimmering, once more, out of existence.

* * *

**The next day... **

Tsukune awoke in his bed. It had seemed like everything was a dream. I mean it was outrageous that he was really a warlock and not human that there was a whole world out there full of monsters and demons. He would have waved it all off as a lucid dream caused by him being upset of his failure of the high school entrance exam if it hadn't been one thing: the black dragon that was sleeping peacefully on his chest.

At that point in time his dad walked into his room. "Come one son, wake up your familiar for we have a lot of training to do! You only have two months before your school life at Yokai Academy begins and I want my son to be prepared for any and all trouble he may run into there!" Tsukune just groaned at the thought of his upcoming training.

* * *

(1) Tsukune's dad doesn't have an official name as of yet so I just used the first male Japanese name that came to my mind.

(2) Cookies to anyone who can tell me where this is from!

(3) Same as #2

**Well thats it for chapter 1. I hope you enjoy my take on the Rosario + Vampire story and yeah I know this is kinda only a prologue but whatever. Please review honestly and remember the more reviews I get the more motivated I will become and the faster I will whip chapters out!**


	2. Author's note

Author's update:

Hey everyone! I know you guys have waiting a really long time for a new chapter and all and I've got some good news; it's in the works. Now, I'm not going to give you some bullshit reason why I haven't written anything other than what has been posted simply because I don't have one. I got lazy and real life became more "real" so I stopped writing. On the plus side, I've been able to clear my mind and that I have become a better writer (hopefully) because of it! Now I reread the chapter to remember where I was going with it and to get the creative juices flowing again and I realized something; I really sucked! Now that I have been enlightened of my past plight, I am going to retry this story, but this time do it right! Thank you for all the support you guys have given me and expect the first chapter of the rewritten version of "Shadows Burn the Brightest (Reworking Title)" a few days after I finish my finals, which are next week. Until then, I bid you good day!


End file.
